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Since women started showing up in the workforce in greater numbers, reproductive health has been treated as private, personal and separate from work. It is fair to say this is also the case for men. But is it time for a change?

There is no magic switch that turns off our full being, as we walk through an employer’s door. In truth men and women know that reproductive health impacts working lives, working capacity, career progression, financial security and workforce participation.

That is why paid, gender-inclusive reproductive leave must be considered as part of the National Employment Standards, including menopause.

The ACTU’s It’s For Every Body campaign is calling for 10 days of paid reproductive health leave for all working Australians. Importantly, this is not framed as “women’s leave”. It is not narrowly framed as menopause leave either. It is reproductive health leave, designed to support a wide range of experiences including menstruation, endometriosis, fertility treatment, miscarriage, pregnancy, contraception, hormone therapy, hysterectomy, vasectomy, menopause, perimenopause, and preventative screenings such as breast and prostate checks.

Having such inclusive gender framing gives it weight. The future of work is not gender neutral. It is biologically informed, inclusive, and responsive to the realities of the people who make up our workforce. Organisations that understand this will attract better talent, retain valuable experience, reduce risk, and outperform those that do not.

For menopausal women, this conversation is urgent.

The Senate Inquiry into issues related to menopause and perimenopause made it very clear that menopause is not just a health issue. It is also a workforce issue, an economic issue, a gender equity issue and a retirement security issue. Women continue to navigate systemic imbalance that drives financial insecurity, housing vulnerability, and, for too many, homelessness; pressures that are compounded during the menopause transition.

Chapter 3 of the Inquiry Report examined the impact of perimenopause and menopause on women’s working lives, including reduced workforce participation, interrupted careers, missed promotions, early retirement and reduced superannuation accumulation. These are not small consequences. They shape the financial futures of midlife women and, in many cases, determine whether a woman remains employed, reduces her hours, steps back from leadership, or exits the workforce earlier than she intended and so reproductive leave must be part of a broader workplace response.

When I gave evidence at the Senate Inquiry, I spoke about the importance of flexibility, dignity and destigmatising the reality of symptoms at work. Heavy bleeding, hot flushes, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, sleep disruption and brain fog are not always predictable. They do not always require someone to leave the workforce. Often, what is needed is a practical, human response. Sometimes that is:

• Flexibility.
• A private space to gather yourself.
• The ability to work from home.
• Sometimes it is access to reasonable adjustments without having to disclose deeply personal medical information to everyone in the chain of command.
• Leave.

That is why reproductive leave should not sit in isolation. It should sit alongside intentional, inclusive and tailored reasonable adjustments. The aim is not to remove people from work. The aim is to keep people well enough, supported enough and respected enough to stay.

For menopausal women, well, we are at the peak of our experience, leadership, technical capability and organisational knowledge. We are running teams, businesses, projects, families, households, farms, communities and care networks. Women are the backbone of many workplaces. Yet too many are quietly reducing hours, turning down opportunities, using up sick leave, masking symptoms, or leaving altogether because the workplace has not caught up with the biological realities of its workforce and for me this shouts about the problem as workforce design.

Recommendation 8 of the Senate Inquiry was clear. The Committee recommended that the Australian Government task the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to undertake further research on the impact and effectiveness of sexual and reproductive health leave where it has been implemented in Australia and overseas, while considering introducing paid gender-inclusive reproductive leave in the National Employment Standards and modern awards.

That recommendation gives us a pathway….But we cannot afford to let this become another well-meaning conversation that stalls in policy language.

Reproductive leave is not about creating special treatment. It is about creating a modern, fair and practical safety net that recognises that people have bodies, and those bodies sometimes require care, treatment, recovery, screening or support.

For menopause, this is particularly important because so many women have spent decades working hard to be taken seriously. Many do not want to be seen as less capable. They do not want to be sidelined, pitied, performance-managed or quietly moved out of opportunity. They want to stay employed, stay positive, stay financially secure and continue contributing at the level they know they are capable of. The right workplace support can make that possible.

Paid reproductive leave, done well, sends a powerful message. It says reproductive health is not shameful. It says workers should not have to choose between their health and their income. It says preventative care matters. It says menopause matters. It says men’s reproductive health matters too. It says inclusion is not a poster on the wall, but a practical entitlement embedded in the way we work.

For employers, this is not just about compliance. It is about retention, safety, wellbeing, performance and equity.

For women navigating menopause, it can be the difference between stepping away and staying connected.

For all workers, it is a recognition that health is not separate from work. It comes to work with us every day.

If we are serious about keeping women employed and positive through menopause, and if we are serious about building workplaces that work for everybody, then reproductive leave belongs in the National Employment Standards.

It is time to move from awareness to action.

To support the campaign, visit the ACTU’s It’s For Every Body campaign, sign the petition, and start the conversation in your workplace.

And if your organisation is ready to move from awareness to action, book a workplace menopause education session with Megan Hayward, The Menopause Concierge®, to help your leaders and teams understand menopause, reproductive health, reasonable adjustments and the future of biologically informed work.

Reproductive health leave is not just good for women.

It is good for workers.

It is good for workplaces.

And it is good for the future of work.